Friday, April 9, 2010

DC Comics' Blackest Night Concluded Its Run With March's Best-Selling Comic Book

Blackest Night #8, the concluding issue of DC Comics' cosmic crossover event, joined its seven preceding issues as the number one comic book atop the sales charts in its month of release, giving the publisher the best-selling comic book in March 2010, based upon total unit sales to comic book specialty shops, according to Diamond Comic Distributors.

Coming in second for the month was Marvel Comics' Siege #3, the latest chapter of their Avengers crossover and the culmination of long-running story arcs, which helped Marvel Comics take the top publisher spot in March with the company leading in both the Unit Market and Dollar Shares categories, for a 47.12% Unit Market Share and a 41.94% Dollar Share for the month.

Kick-Ass, the creator-owned book from Marvel Comics' Icon imprint by creators Mark Millar and John Romita, Jr., and soon to be a motion picture from Lionsgate and director Matthew Vaughn (Stardust), was the best-selling graphic novel to comic book specialty shops in March.

Medicom's line of figures based on Tim Burton's new film gave the manufacturer the best-selling Toy product to comics specialty retailers with the Alice In Wonderland: Mad Hatter RAH (Real Action Hero) Figure, featuring a design based on Johnny Depp's performance from the film. The latest expansion of Pokémon USA's long-running card game, Pokémon TCG: Heartgold and Soulsilver Booster Packs, gave the publisher the best-selling game product to specialty retailers for the month.

How does Diamond calculate the charts? It all starts at the comic book shop.

Data for Diamond’s sales charts — which include the monthly market shares and all top product charts — are compiled by Diamond Comic Distributors from a universe of over 3,500 comic book specialty shops located in North America and around the world. The account base includes brick-and-mortar comic book specialty shops, Internet merchants, and other specialty stores.

Unit and dollars sales are calculated based upon orders invoiced and shipped to Diamond accounts during any given month, which comprises initial pre-orders, advance reorders, and reorders, minus any copies that are received back from a title marked as returnable.

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ABOUT DIAMOND COMIC DISTRIBUTORS—the world's largest distributor of English-language comic books and pop-culture related merchandise, Diamond is based in Baltimore, MD, and services more than 3,500 specialty retailers worldwide. For more information, visit Diamond on the web at www.diamondcomics.com.